WINONA, Minn. — The Winona City Council has approved a permit to allow a local trucking company to ship frac sand through the city’s commercial barge dock on the Mississippi River.

The vote was 4-2. Winona Daily News reports several council members wanted to reach a decision Monday rather than tabling the contentious issue. Council member George Borzyskowski says the frac sand business has taken root in Winona and isn’t going away.

Four members of Winona Area Citizens Concerned about Sand Mining raised objections over air and water quality, truck traffic and quality of life issues at a hearing before the vote.

Frac sand is used by oil and gas drilling companies. The kind mined in Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota is the ideal shape and size for hydraulic fracturing.